Extreme Football Tourism: NETHERLANDS: RKSV GOLTO (1927-1943?) / HGOVV (1927-1935) / RKVV Achilles '12 (1943-1951) / RKVV Achilles '12 (B) (1951-1956) / KSV Achilles '12 (B) (1956-1963) / KSV Achilles '12 (1963-)

Sportpark 't Wilbert, Hengelo (KSV Achilles '12, formerly RKSV GOLTO / HGOVV / A & B ground of RKVV Achilles '12 / B ground of KSV Achilles '12)

Netherlands, province: Overijssel

12 X 2024 / KSV Achilles '12 - SV LONGA '30 1-0 / Combined Sunday & Saturday League 1G (= NL level 6)

Timeline

1865 / Jan van Alphen, alderman in Hengelo, has a villa constructed on an estate he had just purchased, Landgoed Het Wilbert. Predictably, the new villa is given the name Huize Het Wilbert.
1912 / Foundation of a first Roman Catholic football club in Hengelo (Overijssel), RKVV (Roomsch-Katholieke Voetbalvereeniging) Achilles – with Achilles being the name of a warrior from Greek mythology. Bernhard Nijhuis becomes the new club’s first chairman. The club’s plan to join the TVB (Twentsche Voetbalbond), the Twente sub-branch of the Netherlands’ Football Association (NVB, later KNVB) falls through, as federation authorities refuse to give the club a guarantee that matches will be played on Sundays after twelve noon (to avoid players not being able to attend the regular Sunday mass in the morning hours). Thereupon, the club sticks to playing friendly matches in the first years of its existence. RKVV Achilles’ first ground is situated at Pruisische Veldweg, a pitch used by several other clubs as well (and situated not far from the modern-day Fanny Blankers-Koenstadion). Incidentally, also in 1912, Landgoed Het Wilbert is acquired by a local industrialist, R.W.H. Hofstede-Crull, who invests a considerable sum to have the villa renovated.
1916 / RKVV Achilles becomes a founding member of the so-called RKUVB or Roomsch-Katholieke Utrechtsche Voetbalbond, a Roman-Catholic football association uniting clubs from several provinces: Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel, Drenthe, Frisia, and Groningen (although, admittedly, there are hardly any member clubs from these last three provinces). One of eight teams from Twente to join the federation, RKVV Achilles is placed in the Twente District Division. That same year, moving away from Terrein Pruisische Veldweg, the club finds a pitch of its own at the crossroads of Deurningerstraat and Landsmanweg, on a plot of land owned by the Hermsboer farm.
1917 / RKVV Achilles wins the title in the Twente District Division – losing its first match, at home against Victoria (Enschede), but going on to win ten of the remaining eleven matches, with one draw. Thereupon, the club takes part in a title competition against the winners of the other RKUVB divisions, of which only one result has been preserved – a 2-2 draw at Terrein Deurningerstraat against Utrecht side PVC (att. 1,200). From 1917 onwards, the RKUVB is part of the national Roman Catholic federation RKF (Roomsch-Katholieke Federatie), with league football being organised across the Netherlands. Also in 1917, to the dismay of Mr Hofstede-Crull, his estate and villa are bought up by Hengelo’s municipal authorities to build a new neighbourhood in the area. In a bout of rage, Hofstede-Crull decides to have Huize Het Wilbert demolished to its foundations.
1918 / After two years at Terrein Deurningerstraat, RKVV Achilles moves to a newly laid-out pitch opposite Café Pentrop – in fact, the same location occupied today by KSV BWO’s Sportpark De Noork.
1919 / RKVV Achilles wins its second title in RKUVB’s Twente District Division.
1920 / Having played on the pitch across from Café Pentrop for two years, RKVV Achilles now moves to the so-called Twentsch Stadion at Deurningerstraat – a sports facility which must have been demolished prior to World War II.
1922 / At the behest of RKUVB / RKF authorities – probably after the club won promotion to a higher division – RKVV Achilles changes its name due to several other clubs bearing the same name. Board member Beerntje Prinsen comes up with the creative idea of adopting the acronym ABON (‘Achilles Blijft Onze Naam’, i.e. Achilles Is Still Our Name).
1926 / After four years, ABON is allowed by RKF authorities to revert to its old name, RKVV Achilles.
1927 / Abandoning the Twentsch Stadion after seven years, RKVV Achilles now settles at Terrein Twekkelerweg, where it disposes of one sand pitch. At some point in the 1930s, Achilles is joined here by Protestant club SV Juliana ’32, but certainly not from 1932 onwards – and it is unclear for how long they had to share the facilities with this club. Also in 1927, a football pitch is laid out on top of R.W.H. Hofstede-Crull’s former villa, Huize het Wilbert, with the new Gemeentelijk Sportterrein ‘t Wilbert (one regular pitch, with a covered stand, and one gravel pitch for training sessions) being taken into use by two football clubs: RKSV GOLTO (Roomsch-Katholieke Sportvereeniging ‘Grondig Oefenen Leidt Tot Overwinnen’) and the newly founded HGOVV (Hengelosche Geheelonthoudersvoetbalvereeniging). GOLTO, founded in 1918, had won promotion to NVB League 3 in 1922.
1928 / The sand pitch at Terrein Twekkelerweg is laid out anew with a grass surface.
1929 / RKVV Achilles clinches the title in RKF'ss Eastern Division 1.
1933 / RKVV Achilles wins the title in RKF’s Eastern Division 1 for the second time.
1935 / After an existence of eight years, RKSV GOLTO’s groundsharers at Gemeentelijk Sportterrein ‘t Wilbert, HGOVV, cease all activities.
1936 / RKVV Achilles wins the title in RKUVB’s Twente District Division, with the decisive points being obtained in a 3-1 win over RKSV Rohda Raalte.
1940 / Having spent the first decades of its existence in Roman Catholic league associations RKUVB & RKF/IVCB (Interdiocesane Voetbalcompetitiebond), RKVV Achilles is now constrained to make the step to the official Netherlands’ FA (renamed NVB following the German oppression of the Netherlands, abandoning the royal epithet ‘koninklijk’ for obvious reasons) as all other football associations are abolished by German occupation authorities. The club is placed in District East’s Sunday League 2A for the 1940-41 season.
1941 / After fourteen years at Terrein Twekkelerweg, RKVV Achilles is forced out of its ground, as the pitch is commandeered by the German occupation forces. In the following years, the club has to play its home matches here and there, as it is left without a pitch of its own.
1943 / RKVV Achilles absorbs a smaller local club, BEG (Bijen en Garven), adapting its name to become RKVV Achilles ’12. That same year, the club rents Gemeentelijk Sportterrein ‘t Wilbert. It is unclear if this coincides with the departure of RKSV GOLTO from this pitch – GOLTO played its football at Stadion Veldwijk from 1949 onwards, groundsharing with HVV Tubantia, into which club it is absorbed in 1955. Achilles cannot make use of the facilities at ‘t Wilbert from 1943 onwards, though, as the ground has just been commandeered by the German occupation forces – with anti-aircraft fire and search lights being stationed on the pitch. It is not until after the war that the club can take its place at the park.
1950 / Wim Roetert, former player of DVV Go Ahead and the Netherlands’ national team (1 cap in 1923), is signed by RKVV Achilles ’12 as the club’s first-ever trainer-coach.
1951 / Due to the bad state of the pitch at Terrein ‘t Wilbert, RKVV Achilles ’12 has to move its first team football to Stadion Veldwijk, where it groundshares with HVV Tubantia and RKSV GOLTO.
1956 / At the request of church authorities, RKVV Achilles ’12 allows clubs for several other sports to form branches within the club, which thereupon adapts its name to become KSV (Katholieke Sportvereniging) Achilles ’12. Initially, apart from football, there are branches for table tennis, badminton, volleyball, and baseball – with the first and last-mentioned sport arts being discontinued at some point in the following three decades.
1957 / Having spent the first seventeen years after joining the regular Netherlands’ FA in Sunday League 2 – mostly managing mid-table finishes – KSV Achilles ’12 now finishes in last place in District East’s Sunday League 2A, thus descending into Sunday League 3 for the first time. Coach Herman Wienk had been replaced by Loek Fransen in the course of the season in an attempt to stop the rot, but to no avail.
1960 / KSV Achilles ’12 finishes as runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 3A, 3 points behind champions SV Vosta.
1962 / With the first stone for the construction being laid by the club’s spiritual advisor, chaplain A.W. Niesink, Achilles’ clubhouse at Sportpark ‘t Wilbert is inaugurated in December 1962.
1963 / After twelve years of having to play at Stadion Veldwijk, KSV Achilles ’12 moves its first team football back to Sportpark ‘t Wilbert. In the following two decades, the club has to make use of the Veldwijk facilities occasionally, as the increase of its membership does not allow all training sessions and matches to be held at ‘t Wilbert on all occasions.
1965 / Coached by Piet Huisken, KSV Achilles ’12 wins its first-ever title in the ranks of the KNVB, finishing in first place in District East’s Sunday League 3A, 2 points ahead of runners-up vv Oldenzaal. As such, the club manages a return to Sunday League 2 after an absence of eight seasons.
1967 / The clubhouse at Sportpark ‘t Wilbert, which had been erected only five years previously, is consumed in a fire in September 1967. The reconstruction works get underway soon after, with chaplain Booyink laying the first stone in November and the successor building being inaugurated on Boxing Day, 1967.
1970 / Coached by Hans Fransen, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes in second-last place in District East’s Sunday League 2B, thus dropping back into Sunday League 3 along with bottom club – and derby rivals – HVV Tubantia.
1971 / Coached by Gerrit Kerdijk, KSV Achilles ’12 clinches the title in District East’s Sunday League 3A, 2 points ahead of closest followers AVC Luctor et Emergo, with the club thus winning promotion to League 2.
1972 / Coached by Jan Lentink, KSV Achilles ’12 wins its second title in a row, finishing top of the table in District East’s Sunday League 2B, 10 points ahead of closest rivals SV Dinxperlo. The decisive points are clinched in an emphatic 6-0 home win against vv SDOUC. As such, the club accedes to Sunday League 1, the top division of the Netherlands’ non-league pyramid at the time.
1973 / In its first season in Sunday League 1D, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes as runners-up, 2 points behind champions GVV Eilermark.
1974 / Coached by Hans Fransen, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes in fifth place in Sunday League 1D, a result sufficient to be admitted to the newly created top tier of the Sunday pyramid, Zondag Hoofdklasse. Also in 1974, for the first time, the club receives FC Twente ’65 for a friendly at Sportpark ‘t Wilbert, won by the professional league side (0-2).
1975 / Achilles’ goalkeeper Bennie Nijhuis earns himself a professional league contract at AVC Vitesse, where he stayed for six seasons.
1977 / In the best season in club history, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes in third place in Zondag Hoofdklasse B. The team of trainer Jan Kemkens only had to acknowledge the supremacy of champions vv Rheden and runners-up vv (Hubert) Sneek.
1981 / Coached by Gerard Somer, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes in second-last place in Zondag Hoofdklasse B, resulting in the club being retrograded to Sunday League 1, along with bottom club vv Hattem.
1982 / A proposal to remove the reference to the KSV Achilles ‘12’s Roman Catholic origins from the club name (i.e. changing the name from KSV Achilles ’12 to SV Achilles ’12) is rejected by the club’s membership.
1983 / KSV Achilles ’12 holds FC Twente to a 2-2 draw in a friendly at Sportpark ‘t Wilbert, with André Bode and Simon van Benthem scoring Achilles’ goals.
1984 / 22-year-old Achilles ’12 utility player Gertjan Verbeek is signed by professional league side SC Heerenveen, with Verbeek going on to play with that club for nine years subdivided in two spells (1984-86, 1987-94), spending one season at SC Heracles ’74 in between (1986-87); Verbeek later went on to coach various professional league clubs in the Netherlands and Germany. Also in 1984, former Achilles youth academy defender Rudy Degenaar, who had joined Go Ahead Eagles two years previously, makes his debut as a professional league player at SC Heracles ’74. Degenaar stays with the club from Almelo for five years, tragically dying in the Surinam Airways Flight 764 crash near Zanderij Airport in Surinam. Degenaar was part of a team of Dutch footballers with a Surinamese background, the so-called ‘Colourful 11’, due to play some demonstration matches in the country of their forefathers. Degenaar was one of fourteen players who did not survive the crash, with only three of the squad surviving the disaster.
1988 / Coached by Frans Leushuis, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes bottom of the table in Sunday League 1D, resulting in the club suffering relegation to Sunday League 2, along with derby rivals HVV Tubantia.
1989 / Achilles’ player Bert-Jan Heins plays his 300th match for the club’s first team.
1990 / With a wooden predecessor being knocked down, a new set of dressing rooms is erected at Sportpark ‘t Wilbert. That same year, the main pitch of the park is equipped with floodlights.
1991 / KSV Achilles ’12 finishes as runners-up in District East’s Sunday League 2B, 3 points behind champions DOS ’19. In the play-offs, the club goes on to reach the final (incidentally, just like it had done in 1990), in which it ultimately misses out on promotion.
1992 / Champions in District East’s Sunday League 2B, 6 points ahead of closest rivals SV Colmschate ’33, KSV Achilles ’12 manages a return to Sunday League 1. The decisive points are obtained in a 2-0 away win at ZAC in Zwolle. The successful coach is Gerrit Geerdink Johannink. Also in 1992, KSV Achilles ’12 ceases to be an omnisports club, with the badminton and volleyball branches continuing their existence as separate entities.
1995 / Coached by Freek van Oenen, KSV Achilles ’12 clinches the title in Sunday League 1D, 3 points ahead of runners-up SV Hatert, thus returning to Zondag Hoofdklasse after an absence of fourteen years.
1996 / Still coached by Freek van Oenen, KSV Achilles ’12 is unable to cope with the Hoofdklasse level, ultimately finishing in twelfth place in Zondag Hoofdklasse B and dropping back into Sunday League 1 along with RKSV Rohda Raalte and bottom club CVV Germanicus. In the following years, the club establishes itself as a regular feature at the League 1 level.
2002 / Former professional league player Michel Boerebach – between 1983 and 1998, he played for Go Ahead Eagles, Roda JC, PSV, Burgos CF, and FC Twente – joins KSV Achilles ’12 as head coach of the first team, staying on in that capacity for two seasons until joining Go Ahead Eagles as an assistant manager. Also in 2002, on the occasion of the club’s 90th anniversary, KSV Achilles ’12 plays host to AFC Ajax in a pre-season friendly at Sportpark ‘t Wilbert, losing the encounter (att. 2,200) emphatically, 0-11; a repeat of the match the year after leads to a slightly more honourable result (0-9).
2003 / KSV Achilles ’12 reaches the final of District East’s Regional Cup (Districtsbeker), suffering defeat in the final at Gemeentelijk Sportpark De Strokel in Harderwijk against VVOG (4-2).
2005 / Former Achilles ’12 youth player Marcel Kleizen, who had joined FC Twente’s youth academy in 2003, makes his debut in FC Twente’s first team. Kleizen goes on to have a short professional league career, also defending the colours of FC Zwolle and FC Emmen until hanging up his boots in 2009.
2006 / After nearly two decades of paying fees to their players, KSV Achilles’ board takes the decision to put an end to this practice.
2007 / Coached by Geert Veldhuis, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes bottom of the table in Sunday League 1E, thus descending into Sunday League 2 along with vv SDOUC and SV OBW.
2010 / Runners-up in Sunday League 2J, 11 points behind champions PH, KSV Achilles ’12 and its coach Otto Krabbe win automatic promotion to Zondag Hoofdklasse due to extra promotion places being available following the introduction of a Zondag Topklasse as the new top division of the Sunday non-league pyramid.
2011 / Finishing in ninth place in Sunday League 1E, KSV Achilles ’12 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, defeating vv Dalen in R1 (7-5 aggr.), but slumping to defeat against vv Sneek Wit Zwart in R2 (5-2 aggr.). Due to professional league side RBC Roosendaal going bankrupt, however, an extra promotion place to the Hoofdklasse level is available, with a lucky loser play-off being held for that one spot. Defeating near-namesakes Achilles 1894 in R1 (2-3), KSV Achilles ’12 eventually stumbles over the last hurdle in the final, played at Sportcentrum KNVB in Zeist, against VPV Purmersteijn (0-2).
2014 / Coached by Remco Hammink, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes in twelfth place in Sunday League 1E, thus dropping back into Sunday League 2 along with SV Babberich and bottom club vv DVV.
2016 / Jeffrey de Visscher, former professional league player at FC Twente, BVO Emmen, Heracles Almelo, BV De Graafschap, Aberdeen FC, SC Cambuur, and FC Emmen, is signed by KSV Achilles ’12 as the club’s new trainer – staying on in that capacity for five seasons.
2017 / The main pitch of Sportpark ‘t Wilbert is equipped with a synthetic surface. During the works, the foundations of Huize Het Wilbert are unearthed – only to be covered in a layer of concrete, which serves as the basis of the new 3G pitch.
2019 / Finishing as runners-up in Sunday League 2J, with an equal number of points as champions SV Voorwaarts, but with an inferior goal difference (+38 vs. + 33), KSV Achilles ’12 qualifies for the promotion play-offs, knocking out vv Union in R1 (7-2), but being eliminated in R1 by RKSV De Zweef (1-3).
2022 / Coached by Freek van Oenen, KSV Achilles ’12 finishes in third place in Sunday League 2J, qualifying for the play-offs, in which the club successively has the better of SV BVC ’12 (result unknown), SV Bon Boys (0-2), and vv Union (0-5). As a result, KSV Achilles ’12 wins promotion to Sunday League 1 – but, making use of the opportunity offered for the first time by the Netherlands’ FA to swap from one pyramid to the other without being retrograded to the lowest level, the club chooses to be placed in Saturday League 1 for the new season – thereby ending a tradition of 110 years of Sunday football. From the 2023-24 season onwards, however, the Netherlands’ FA chose to mix Sunday and Saturday clubs in League 1, with KSV Achilles ’12 continuing to play its first team home matches on Saturdays.
2024 / 35-year-old defender Sjoerd Overgoor, a former professional league player at BV De Graafschap, Go Ahead Eagles, SC Cambuur, Szombathelyi Haladás, and TOP Oss (2009-21), joins KSV Achilles ’12.

Note 1 – Much of the information above has been derived from a book released on the occasion of KSV Achilles ‘12’s 100th anniversary in 2012: “Witte broek en rode trui… 100 jaar KSV Achilles ’12 (1912-2012)”, by Ben van Benthem / Ton Krabbe / Marco Krijnsen / Paul Nieuwenhuis / Margriet Postma / Rob Sanders / Gerard Smink (ed. Achilles ’12: 2012). Thanks to KSV Achilles ‘12’s board for putting a copy of this book at my disposal.

Note 2 – Below, a compilation of photos of two different visits: pictures 1-4 & 15 = non-matchday visit, December 2022 / pictures 5-14 = match visit, October 2024.